Device for electric railway cars



(No Mode1.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. W. H. CONRAD. GONTROLLING DEVIGB POR ELECTRIC RAILWAY GARS.

No. 525,336. Patented sept. 4, 1894.

Y (N0 MOdGL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. H. CONRAD. ONTROLLING DEVICE EUR ELECTRIC RAILWAY CARS. N0. 525,336

Patent-ed Sept. 4, 1894.

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W. H. CONRAD. CONTECLLINC DEVICE ECR ELECTRIC RAILWAY CARS.-

No. 525,336. f PatentedESept. 4, 1894.

UNITED! STATES Erica.

ATENT .WILLIAM HENRY CONRAD, OF LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF'TWO-THIRDS TO JACOB M. SHENK AND WILLIAM P. OOLDREN, OF SAME PLACE.

COVNTROLLING'DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC-RAILWAY CARS.

SPECIFICATION form-ing part of Letters Patent No. 525,336, datedSeptember 4, 1894.

Application iled January 8, 1894. Serial No. 496,122. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY CON- RAD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lebanon, in the county of Lebanon and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inControlling Devices for Electric -Railway Cars; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which 1tappertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to electric railway cars, and has for itsobject improvements -on the device shown in Patent No. 506,001,

granted October 3, 1893,to William P.Ooldren, for controlling device forelectric railway cars, whereby the current of electricity is controlledand the power brake applied and released by the use of a single lever.The device employed affords ready and effective means for releasing thebrake and turning on the current, or turning 0E the current and applyingthe brakes. In either event the current of electricity and the brakescannot be on at the same time, while the current and the brake -are infull control of the motor-man so that he can with one hand operate both.

The special feature of improvement in this invention lies in the meansemployed for preventing the car when on an inclined part of the road waystarting back during the time which elapses between the releasing of thebrake and the application of the current of electricity to start thecar, which occurs in all other single lever controlling devices of which1 have knowledge, and results in a sudden jar or jerk to the car and itsoccupants.

The invention will be fully disclosed in the following specification andclaims.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of this specication, Figure1 represents a rear elevation of my invention partly in section; Fig. 2a vertical section showing the switch in elevation; Fig. 3 a verticalsection on an enlarged scale of the brake controlling mechanism, showingthe brake-chain sleeve down or in its normal position when the brake isoff or released; Fig. 4 a like view showing the brake-chain sleeveraised or elevated, or

in the position which it occupies when the brake is on; Fig. 5 a topplan view showing the position of the parts when the current is off andthe brake on; Fig. 6 a like view showing the position of the same partswhen the brake has been released and the current is about to be turnedon, and Fig. 7 a side view of the yoke detached.

Reference being had to the drawings and the letters thereon, A indicatesthe platform of a car, B a base, and O a controller or switch such as isused on electrical cars, and may be of any approved construction, as itforms no part of my present invention. The switch shown is supportedbetween an upper head a;

and a lower head b, surrounds the shaft D which in the presentconstruction passes through the switch-cylinder without coming incontact therewith, and is operated to turn the current of electricity onor off by means of an arm c secured to the shaft D, as will hereinaftermore fully appear.

E indicates a frame which rests upon the base B, and through the upperendd of which is a cylindrical opening e provided with a bushing f, andthrough the bushing extends the sleeve g of the head a, and on the upperend ofthe sleeve g rests a plate h and is secured thereto to revolvetherewith by a setscrew 1J. The plate h is provided with a socket lo onits lower side into which the sleeve g extends, and on one end isthickened at l, through which thickened portion are openings m, m, intowhich the arms n, o, of the yoke F extend and move vertically therein.To the lower end of the yoke is secured a wheel p upon which the yokerests and travels on the upper surface of the upper end of the frame Eas the plate h is turned to, the right or left to turn the current ofelectricity o or off. In turning the plate h to the left turn on thecurrent, the arm c engages theflong arm o of the vyoke F and transmitsmotion to the heads a. and b and turns the switch O on its axis; and inturning oi the current the arm c is turned to the right, engages theshort arm n of the yoke and turns the switch on its axis in the oppositedirection until the wheel p drops into the recess q in the upper surfaceof the IOO end d of the frame E, at which point the current is cut off.The device as thus far constructed does not differ substantially fromthat shown in the patent to which reference has been made.

The shaft D passes through the plate r of the base B, is screw-threadedat s and engages a nut t secured to the plate fr, which screw-thread sand nut t cause the shaft to rise and fall as it is revolved.Surrounding the shaft D at the lower end is a sleeve G which isinternally screw-threaded at u, and is provided with a ratchet wheel owhich nor mally rests upon the platform A with a piece of metal winterposed to reduce friction and wear, and the shaft is provided with astud y which engages the thread u in the sleeve'G and causes the sleeveto revolve on the shaft. The sleeve is secured in position on the shaftby a plate a' secured to the upper surface of the ratchet Wheel n, andto the sleeve is secured the brake chain b by an eye-bolt c',

and the ratchet Wheel and the sleeve are held in position after thebrake has been applied by a pawl d', secured to the platform by a bolt eand is provided with a friction roller f which is engaged by an arm gsecured to the shaft D to disengage the pawl from the ratchet-wheel whenit is desired to release the brake. The sleeve G operates in a stirrup Hsecured to the under side of the platform by bolts h h', and is providedwith an upward cylindrical extension i' and a bar 7c at the lower end,which extension and bar are provided with openings Z m through which thesleeve moves vertically.

The arm c which turns on and oi the current, and the arm g which tripsthe pawl d', project from opposite sides of the. shaft D and are so setthat when the arm g has disengaged the pawl, the arm c is in position toengage the arm o of the yoke F and instantly turn on the current, asshown in Fig. 6; and in Fig. 5, the position of said arms is shown asthe arm g engages the friction roller f of the pawl d.

In putting on the brake the shaft D is revolved to the right and thesleeve G rises with the shaft as the chain is wound around the sleeve,this vertical movement of the shaft being effected by the screw-thread sand nut t; and when the brake is released and the shaft D revolved inthe opposite direction the sleeve is also revolved and the brake-chainunwound by the spring of the brake mechanism, and the sleeve resumes itsnormal position shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3. The pawl is thrown intoengagement with the ratchet- Wheel by the foot of the motor-man. Thecurrent having been turned on, the shaft D is in its lowest position,and the arm c will engage the short arm n of the yokeF to turn off thecurrent as the shaft is revolved toward the right through the medium ofthe hand-wheel I, which. Wheel is secured on the shaft D by means of apin n' and spring o.

To the upper end of the frame E is secured a cover K for the sheet metalcasing (not shown) which usually surrounds the switch and rests upon theplatform of the car.

The controlling device thus constructed enables the motor-m an torelease the brakes and apply the current in such close succession,

that a car standing on a declining grade cannot recede, and therebyprevents the jar attending this class of structures.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is- 1. Thecombination of an electrical switch or controller, a shaft provided withmeans for turning on and oi the current, a revoluble sleeve secured tosaid shaft, a ratchet wheel secured to the sleeve, a pawl, and an arm onthe shaft to release the pawl and a brakechain attached to said sleeve.

2. The combination of an electrical switch or controller, a shaftprovided with means for turning on and oft' the current, a revoluble andvertically movable sleeve secured to said shaft, a ratchet wheel securedto the sleeve, a pawl, and an arm on the shaft to release the pawl and abrake-chain attached to said sleeve.

3. The combination of an electrical switch or controller, a shaftprovided with means for turning on and oif the current, a revolublesleeve having an internal screwfthread, a stud on the shaft engaging thescrew-thread, a ratchet wheel secured to the sleeve, a pawl, and an armon the shaft to release the pawl and a brake-chain attached to saidsleeve.

4. The combination of an electrical switch or controller, a shaft andmeans for turning on and off the current, a revoluble sleeve secured tosaid shaft, a ratchet wheel secured to the sleeve, a pawl, and an arm onthe shaft to release the pawl a stirrup through which said shaft andsleeve pass and a brake-chain attached to said sleeve.

In testimony whereof Iafx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY CONRAD.

`Witnesses:

L. B. STAGER, JOHN B. GROH.

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